As dinner time approached, Erlu appeared and took away the county magistrate and his advisor. The managers and accountants of Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion were summoned to a side hall to organize the shops' account books from the past few years.
In the study of the main hall, Qingyan sat by the window, fuming, gulping down large mouthfuls of cold tea, unable to suppress his anger.
Her face fell instantly upon seeing the shop's ledger. It was infuriating; these people hadn't paid attention to the ledger, and some of the receipts were illegible, with the handwriting barely visible. It didn't comply with Qingyan's regulations at all.
"Master, please have your dinner with Fourth Master first." Su Lan mustered her courage and walked in, feeling very uneasy.
Yin looked up angrily, his cold gaze making Su Lan shiver, and she swallowed the rest of her sentence.
"Sisi, go and have your meal first!" Qingyan didn't even look up. Her right hand was clicking away on the abacus beads, while her left hand was flipping through the account book, verifying every single account recorded on it.
After the incident, Qingyan no longer trusted anyone and only wanted to investigate the wrong accounts herself. Her stubborn little actions gave Yin a headache.
The two men faced each other, looking at the account book. They had just glanced through it and found that a small county town could distribute nearly several hundred thousand taels of silver to the officials in Jiangnan every year, which was higher than his own allowance as a prince.
After reviewing the accounts, Qingyan was so angry that he couldn't eat. They had lost nearly 200,000 taels of silver every year. Ever since he opened the Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion here, he had to pay tribute to the officials every year. If they gave him some kickbacks, Qingyan wouldn't stop them. After all, business is business.
Now, she was so angry that her face turned pale. Yin tenderly pulled Qingyan into his arms and patted her back.
“Getting angry is bad for your health!” Yin said softly.
From the afternoon onwards, Yin barely spoke, and the chill emanating from him grew stronger and stronger. Even Su Peisheng dared not approach, for fear of being frozen by Yin's cold aura.
Qingyan pursed her lips. She wasn't a greedy person, but she also had no intention of being a spendthrift.
Inside the study, the two masters sat facing each other, their expressions growing increasingly cold and calculating.
Qingyan's still-childish face was filled with anger, which made Sulan feel very sorry for her. Her master had sacrificed a lot for Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion, but now, the servants were using her master's money to do favors. Their connections in the officialdom had been opened up.
"Bring the two managers in!" Qingyan wasn't hungry at all; she was so angry she didn't even want to drink water.
The hot tea placed on the left slowly turned into cold tea, but she completely ignored it.
"Little darling, have some water!" Yin picked up his teacup and held it to her lips, letting her drink some warm tea.
Imperial Physician Yuan advised Qingyan to use more water, as she had been suffering from a heat-related cold and should have been resting. However, one thing after another happened, catching them somewhat off guard.
"Sisi, just put it here for now, we'll talk about it later!" Qingyan's face was tense, and she felt weak all over.
The jewelry from Linglong Pavilion was designed with great care by her, largely based on popular styles in the issuing areas. Now, these jewelry pieces not only failed to generate any profit, but were instead handed over to the county magistrate's wife by the shop's accountant.
If all these expenditures are included, it's probably more than a quarter of the total.
She sighed softly, feeling heartbroken. Doing business is not easy; once you've built a large business, you still have to consider whether your subordinates are loyal.
“We need to select a new accountant for the shop!” Yin said, looking at her.
Qingyan nodded, her eyes slowly drifting into a daze.
"Fourth Prince, this is the last time!" Qingyan whispered to Yin.
Of the taxes collected by the Ministry of Revenue, one-tenth came from the two shops of Qingyan, and most of these silver coins were lent out by court officials.
He nodded; it was time to tell his father.
The managers of Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion walked in. They secretly glanced at her and looked uneasy. She stared intently at the two managers.
The two managers were only around forty years old, and they were both handpicked by Yin, whom Qingyan had always trusted.
Yin sat to the side, feeling humiliated. He never expected that he would be outmaneuvered.
"Greetings to Master!" The two managers were handed over to Qingyan and worked diligently.
Qingyan slammed down the account books, ordering the two managers to inspect them personally. She clearly felt she had done enough; these people had figured out the pattern of the annual audits. As the audit time approached, the accountants began falsifying accounts.
"Master, this is from my shop, and this is..." The shopkeepers' hearts skipped a beat when they saw the two ledgers.
Qingyan was a kind master who rarely caused trouble. As long as the servants were loyal, their annual dividends were relatively high, and both families were doing better and better. They did not want to lose such a good job.
"This servant failed in his duty!" The innkeeper of Yuelai Inn immediately understood what had happened.
The shop's accountants were basically drawn from the people given to them by Consort Tong. The internal accounts of these accountants recorded the transfer of large sums of silver, and they were all well aware of it.
Yin regretted it. Madam Tong was very interested in both Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion, and he even sent such a person to manage the accounts. Wasn't this obviously giving the Tong family an opportunity?
"Don't tell Mother!" Qingyan pursed her lips, which were completely bloodless.
She hesitated for a moment, then ultimately chose to keep it a secret.
The concubines of the Tong family often went to Linglong Pavilion to cause trouble. In the end, Consort Tong withstood the pressure from her family and personally ordered the manager of Linglong Pavilion to stop giving the Tong family any more preferential treatment.
Therefore, every time Lady Tong had an audience with the emperor, she would refer to Consort Tong.
“My dear, this matter cannot be hidden. If we don’t tell, it might put your mother in a difficult position.” Yin knew that in Jiangnan, there were not only his mother’s people, but also many palace concubines’ spies.
The two shops were the most eye-catching, and they would notice even the slightest disturbance.
ah?!
Qingyan looked at him blankly. Consort Tong would be angry if she found out, but there was nothing she could do, after all, it was her maternal clan.
"My mother's relationship with the Tong family is not good. Madam Tong hurt my mother several times because of Longkodo's matter, and the relationship between the two sides has become increasingly distant." Yin smiled coldly.
Since he arrived, he has been helping his mother escape the control of the Tong family.
After years of perseverance, he finally succeeded. When the incident in Jiangnan occurred, he originally intended to take this opportunity to break the relationship between his mother and the Tong family.
In the harem, with the support of the princes and their maternal clans, the concubines might find it difficult to gain the Emperor's favor.
"Okay!" Qingyan thought for a moment; he wouldn't set a trap for her.
Yin breathed a sigh of relief, unfolded a letter, and wrote a letter by hand, instructing Erlu to deliver it to Kangxi and Consort Tong as quickly as possible. Of course, four account books were also presented along with the letter.
"We'll know the outcome in three days," Yin laughed. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
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